CHERNOBYL | Episode 3: 'Open Wide O'Earth' | FIRST TIME WATCHING | TV REACTION | Still Wearing Hats!

Naked Miners to the rescue in the award-winning limited series, Chernobyl. Here's our reaction to our first time watching Episode 3, 'Open Wide O'Earth'.
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[@thecoachmansfolly]

It’s Boris’s line “They work in the dark but they see everything” perfectly describes the miners….

[@so-ares]

BTW, they "fixed the light" in the beginning only because it is a TV show and they wanted you to see... in reality the 3 guys worked in the dark because the radiation fried the lamps!

[@PUARockstar]

yes. But they were specialists who knew the station, thats why they were successful and swift. A man foreign to the station wouldnt done it.

[@FutureMartian97]

The radiation didn't fry the lamps. They had just gotten wet.

[@vikingraider1961]

@@FutureMartian97 - Nope - it was the radiation.

[@alex_dapro4923]

No it was a air lamp you pump air into it and it lights up.

[@sullygaming1137]

Craziest part is they were ones who would live long lives up into their 80s I believe.

[@Gwynbleidd66]

The painting at 17:30 is 'Ivan the Terrible and His Son' by Ilya Repin. Ivan the Terrible was one of the greatest Russian Tsars. He had one significant flaw though. He was very impulsive, especially while drunk. His son, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, who would be his successor was one night defending his pregnant wife from Ivan, who attacked her for no real reason a day earlier. In rage he smashed the son's head with his sceptre. Ivan Ivanovich died a few days later, while his wife miscarried. The painting encapsulates the exact moment Tsar Ivan is realising what he has done, cradling his dying son in terrible grief. It's quite symbolic and fitting for the show.

[@ziggyzap1]

I was just about to post this and you beat me to it

[@tsogobauggi8721]

In May 2018 in Russia the painting was attacked in gallery by a drunken visitor with a metal bar. It suffered serious damage. :)

[@k.a.p.x3642]

hello there witcher

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

"He was very impulsive, especially while drunk." So like the average russian male: All the time. ;)

[@danhalstead705]

"He had one significant flaw...." I wouldn't say just one. You don't get a name like Ivan the Terrible just for killing your son, unfortunately.

[@frozenharold]

The reason he had seen the KGB couple that was following them on their walk before, was because they were the same couple from the bar at the hotel. They were testing him, asking about what was happening and if they had anything to be worried about. Good thing for him he told them no. "They've always been there."

[@kyleshockley1573]

_"They've always been there."_ A bit like Grady at the Overlook Hotel, eh. Just doing their duty.

[@StarkRG]

And now there's a KGB agent in charge of Russia.

[@frozenharold]

@@StarkRG Wasn't that long ago the head of the CIA became President.

[@gptd7178]

There are no KGB agents following you. You're delusional. Take him to the infirmary.

[@StarkRG]

@@frozenharold And that just went swimmingly, didn't it? Thankfully he wasn't able to stick around.

[@goji3755]

The Chernobyl divers did carry docimeters with them IRL. I'm not sure the reason why, but presumably because the docimeters would get louder as they approach more contaminated areas of the water. They predicted what would be the least irradiated route possible to reach the valve they needed to turn, a roundabout path that kept them as far from the exploded core as they could remain, given the objective. The docimeters, therefore, were meant to help keep them on that intended path.

[@firstoftheirname0007]

I found your conversation about "would you stay by a loved one's side" interesting. You're the first reactors who I've come across who could to some extent understand why Lyudmilla did what she did. People usually give her such a hard time, saying she's stupid, but I think they do neglect to consider the circumstances, and what an absolutely insane time it was. I was never surprised she did.

[@AmarthwenNarmacil]

Also no one ever explained to her WHY she shouldn't touch her husband.

[@sirmang9032]

@@AmarthwenNarmacil There was a misconception that radiation, inside the body, was contagious. It's not. What would have been an issue for her was to touch him while he was still covered in radioactive particles and dust, both of which would have been cleaned off of him when he entered the hospital. Notice that all the firefighters gear was tossed in the basement. The real risk was for Vasily himself. As in his state, radiation destroys the immune system. Any kind of illness that Lyudmila had could potentially kill Vasily.

[@AmarthwenNarmacil]

@@sirmang9032 Yes, I know. I meant inside the show.

[@sayori3939]

@@AmarthwenNarmacil but that's what he's saying, at that time it was believed if someone got irradiated they would become radioactive

[@Acme1970]

At 17:28 the painting in the background is actually Ivan the Terrible lamenting the death of his son, he grew so angry with his son that he struck and killed him.

[@ded-pihto]

It's only unofficial name of those painting "Ivan the Terrible kills His Son". The real name is "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581". He did not kill his son. He did not.

[@LordLOC]

@@ded-pihto If memory serves, Ivan the Terrible was drunk and hit his son over the head with a blunt object of some kind (I think maybe a scepter or something along those lines) in a fit of anger. And the painting portrays his realization of what he had done while cradling his dying son.

[@marknickols7316]

The guys working to open the sluice gates for the water under the reactor did not have hand crank flash lights. They did do the job successfully in complete darkness after the radiation killed the batteries in their flashlights - but that doesn't make for very good television.

[@sirmang9032]

The flashlights going out likely wasn't due to the radiation but to the water. Flashlights not being waterproof.

[@avostorm8111]

One of the flaws of this, Vasily is NOT radioactive. He's just suffering the horrible symptoms of radiation poisoning. They don't want touching because the risk of infection and his immune system failing. To be fair though during those times, no one knew for sure. It's like a person in the burn unit.

[@Kalashboy420]

this^ radiation poisoning aint contagious

[@mikemath9508]

what happened to her baby then. did it get midnight massed

[@avostorm8111]

@@mikemath9508 well she was in the area... There were a lot of documented stillborns or miscarriages. The only thing that was radioactive was the fuel and the graphite. Once that's off of you, it stops burning you. Like a fire. But if you are close enough, like a town away, you'll still get exposed like she did.

[@PUARockstar]

@@avostorm8111 in was in the dust particles. Ones you breathe one in - it may be forever inside, poisoning you slightly. You may never notice that. However, inhale too many - and youll have a significantly higher chance for cancer later in your life. Thats why they wear masks when they go to Prypyat basement etc.

[@sirmang9032]

@@mikemath9508 The baby died of congenital heart defects, those develop in a fetus within the first 8 weeks of conception. Cirrhosis of the liver was the other cause, and jaundice occurs without radiation. A fetus is most susceptible to radiation during weeks 2 through 18 of pregnancy, we know that Lyudmila was far beyond that. And a radiation dose is lower to the fetus than to the mother. The whole Lyudmila's child died to touching her husband is 100% fictionalized.

[@katyb6979]

That line from the head-honcho miner about ‘how our fathers mined’ is apparently totally true too. My great-granddad was a miner and I’ve heard all the stories about the heat - especially when he was 6 miles out under the North Sea! He died about 50 years ago, or something, long before I was born, but we’ve all heard all the stories.

[@MrBibi86]

here in Australia, miners are paid a lot of money. rightfully so it's a hard and dangerous job. my dad was a coal miner when I was about 5 years old. it's really not a job you can do long-term.

[@leslieturner8276]

Regarding the flashlights in reality they did fail but the men knew the layout of the pipe network so well that they managed to navigate in the dark. Also, for effects of exposure to high levels of radiation, they did tone it down, because the actual impact was considered far too horrific to show.

[@StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mypl510]

I'm taking you with me!!! Nah, I would ask everyone to stay away and remember me as I was before I melted!

[@actaeon299]

You were asking "what button" did the guy push? Basically, it's a "SCRAM" button, except they call it something else. A-zed-something. It inserts all control rods RAPIDLY into the core, which SHOULD shut down the reactor. SHOULD

[@kailmek]

The Russian term is A-Zed-Five (the Cyrillic alphabet letter for 'Z' makes it look like the button is labeled A3-5 to most English readers). And to be fair, had the reactor not been completely hosed by the way things had gone leading up to that point, while there would have been a power surge (for reasons covered later in the series) it would most likely not have been nearly severe or long enough to cause the result that did happen.

[@MrEd8846]

"Whay button did you push?" Homer Simpson: Moe

[@Mirage_-ls4gf]

The Firefighters are not radioactive, after the decontermination.

[@Markus117d]

And what about all the Smoke and dust they breathed in that would have contained radioactive materials, As they had no protective suits, Can't decontaminate someone internally very well.. 🤔

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

Everybody is radioactive. And those firefighters having absorbed some instable isotopes will be more radioactive then normal people. Enough to harm others? That i don't know, but they will radiate more then You or I for sure.

[@THEBILLYSOLSON]

I went to Chernobyl in August, it is a very cool experience. I paid a bit more to have a solo tour, just me and a guide which meant we got to go ahead of everyone in the groups. You can go inside the Control room where they pressed the button now, I was supposed to do that but accidentally went there on Ukrainian Independence Day Weekend so it did not happen. But I got to be in the city of Pripyat all by myself. It is very eerie and seeing how nature has taken over the town is pretty amazing. A lot of the buildings have started to collapse so you are not "allowed" inside the buildings. I put that in quotations because my guide let me go inside an elementary school as she stood watch. You have a dosimeter with you so you know where the radiation levels are and it was very close to what you would find any city and they never really got high. The only place where it really spiked was through the van ride through the red forrest, that is still one of the most radioactive places in the world. As long as you don't touch anything and follow the instructions all you need is a long sleeve shirt, a pair of jeans and closed toe shoes and you're good to go. And you get tested for radiation twice. It was well worth the money and long trip.

[@khalidalamri.]

I bet imagining how Extreme was the horrifying experiences and the painful stories the world didn't know about while standing and walking on the same place would be something to remember till the last day.

[@PUARockstar]

Buildings are indeed starting to collapse, and for that reason Prypyat will be raised, destroyed within next 20 years (so collapsing buildings wouldnt spread that dust). A notion to someone whos going to visit it, you still have time, but not limitless.

[@MrBibi86]

is it true that they still use some of the reactors?

[@LethalWalou]

Now you need to watch Shiey and his friends going there all by themselves, illegally. They get to explore the area freely.

[@Short_Round1999]

The half-life he mentioned was Plutonium. Uranium-235 they use in the reactor has a half-life of 4.5 billion years

[@sirmang9032]

So a misconception this series made, and another issue with the overdramatizing this series did...The not going into the plastic is not for Lyudmila's safety. In fact her touching Vasily wouldn't do anything at all to her. That's not how radiation works. He would have been cleaned of dust and particles when he first got to the hospital. The plastic is there for Vasily. In his extreme radiation exposure and sickness, radiation absolutely destroys the immune system among other things. If Lyudmila or anyone else is sick and goes beyond the plastic, that then could potentially end up killing Vasily. They go even further with this radiation fallacy and Lyudmila later on in the series.

[@victor75208]

I heard she wanted no part in the making of the series.

[@ShockL0ver]

I am suprised Mrs. Movies handled the hospital scenes so well. I was expecting a few tears. Montana women are tough!

[@dangiambrone7350]

She's tough no doubt, but her body language; the sadness/concern in her eyes, her change of posture and moving her arms, using her right hand to support her face, and then both hands to 'shield' her face, and the classic one - the comfort drink, does illustrate a level of discomfort.

[@lukoshey79]

So good that they didn't try to put on Russian accents, the actors i mean. Its absolutely brilliant and im happy you guys caught the jokes, this episode is incredible..

[@mohammedashian8094]

Because not only would it be distracting but just fucking stupid

[@lukoshey79]

@@mohammedashian8094 sure thing, but remember years ago when actors actually tried to do the accents and it was just cringe. It was indeed idiotic.. Cheers

[@MrBibi86]

I agree. an English accent is a lot less disjointing than a bad Russian accent.

[@maksphoto78]

I think they picked specific actors for their accents, too. Common people in this series have Cockney/Midlands/Northern accents, while officials and managers have a more "cultured" accent.

[@old_spice8054]

22:33 town Pripiat.

[@McPh1741]

You should look up the tragic case of Hisashi Ouchi. He was exposed to the highest level of radiation ever by a human being. He was kept alive for almost 90 days just so doctors could record the effects. It’s a truly sad and disturbing story. He went through exactly what those firemen did. The pictures of him are not pleasant to look at.

[@xen0bia]

That's inaccurate, but I don't blame you for not knowing the actual facts, the story has been consistently misrepresented/sensationalized by media all over the place even to this day, it's kinda absurd. Fact: Ouchi was not kept alive as a guinea pig for doctors to study, he was kept alive because his familly demanded so and had him revived everytime he went into cardiac arrest. They had the misguided hope that he could make a recovery, against all medical advice to the contrary. Fact: That disturbing picture famously attributed to Hisashi Ouchi that allegedly shows his ARS and an amputed leg is in fact not of him at all. The picture was lifted from an American medical book called "Treatment of Extreme Full Body Trauma", 4th ed., and is showing an unknown teenager with severe 3rd degree burns from a house fire recovering at the Shriners children hospital in Texas. The more you know~~~~

[@xen0bia]

There's a pretty thorough reddit post about all the misconceptions about this case: "83 Days of Radiation Sickness: the Death of Hisashi Ouchi and a Few Common Misconceptions About It". And there's another debunking the authenticity of the picture: "Trying to find the story behind a notorious photograph from a hospital burn ward".

[@METALSCAVENGER78]

He wasn't exposed to the highest level of radiation, but he surely suffered the most out of anyone else from radiaiton, with doctors keeping him alive for 83 days.In 1978, a Soviet scientist named Anatoliy Bugorsky was bombarded by a deadly beam of radiation that shot a hole through his head. Miraculously, he survived and became a subject of scientific research.A flash “brighter than a thousand suns” was what Anatoliy Bugorsky saw on July 13, 1978 when his head was pierced by a 76 GeV proton beam. As the physicist recalls, he felt no pain, but he knew there’d be long-term consequences. The 34-year old Soviet physicist was working at the Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEP) in the Moscow Region town of Protvino. He was operating the U-70, a proton synchrotron that at that time held the world record in beam energy. Bugorsky entered the hall to inspect the device, when suddenly a beam 2x3 mm in diameter pierced the back of his skull, burning a tiny hole through his middle ear and temple bone, and exiting near his left nostril. In a fraction of a second, Bugorsky was exposed to a dose of radiation equaling from 200,000 to 300,000 Roentgen, a dose 300 times greater than the lethal amount. Ouchi received 17 Sieverts, one Roentgen is equal to 0.0093296636656249 Sieverts or 1 sievert= 107.185 roentgens.So Ouchi received 1822,145 roentgens compared to 200,000 to 300,000 that Anatoliy Bugorsky received.Still, even with medical care 8-30 sieverts are 99-100 % fatal. But Bugorski survived, because it was a focused beam. Unlike Chernobyl or Hiroshima where victims were bathed with high energy gamma rays from head to toe, Bugorski took the hit to a small area with minimal scattering. The beam had entered through the back of his head and exited through his nose

[@McPh1741]

@@xen0bia Thanks for giving me the fact. I appreciate it.

[@kevindorn2508]

I remember in germany, as a child at that time, we were told to not play outside for a while and avoid rain like its poison. In the news they said the radioactive particles came down on parts of germany and the sand in childrens playgrounds ect was exchanged.

[@billbutler335]

The three men that entered the piping tunnels to drain the tanks actually survived. They were very sick for a while but all 3 recovered.

[@sld1776]

The women holding the "good shoes" they couldn't fit into their husbands' feet gets me every time. Oof.

[@bz7661]

The girl and the man seem to love each other like crazy!! The man keeps watching his wife for her reactions, and it's sweet.

[@namechamps]

I think you guys might have missed the context of AZ-5 (the button). AZ-5 was a shutdown button. She was asking why didn't they press AZ-5. Why didn't they shutdown the reactor. They said they did it exploded after they pressed AZ-5. Hopefully nobody throws out any spoilers as to how/why that would be possible but at this point it is a mystery. If they are telling the truth it means the reactor didn't explode until they properly tried to do an emergency shutdown which is ... well weird which is why it was confusing and hard to believe for both of them.

[@scalefree]

the name for the control in English would be Scram, instant shutdown. I had an uncle who was a nuclear engineer, picked up a couple things from him when it happened.

[@Celeon999A]

Interesting fact : The three "divers" were not volunteers as portrayed in the series. They recieved their task by their superior just as any ordinary work order. They were told that their task was of extreme importance, that many lifes depended on their success, and it being dangerous. But they were not really told that it was considered potentially deadly. Not with one word. They progressed through the basement at a much faster pace as shown and did not spent much attention on the two geiger counters they were given as there was simply no time for that.

[@Neyenn]

Yeah, i read the same thing a couple times, they just picked them up because they use to work aroud that area and they were familiarizated with the zone. I even heard that those three divers actually survived, one of them sadly passed away a couple years ago from a hearth attack, but the other two are still alive and well

[@gunmetal2890]

Thank you for doing this reaction series. I did a project on this when I was in school over 30 years ago. I know how 'brutal' it is as you put it, but I think people really do need to watch this show. Not necessarily to scare people out of nuclear power, but around how people 'should' respond in these situations, be aware of the catastrophic risk to life and taking more action/precautions to prevent harm as much as possible. I know there might be a few factually incorrect aspects, but I doubt it is enough to invalidate the story (by far). The other important thing is that there are much newer technologies now and even nuclear is so much safer than ever before, but as you will see later (without spoilers) make sure you do it things properly. Most of these things are only as strong and reliable as its weakest link... and that goes for people and teams as well. One (or many) questionable people making poor decisions can be just as catastrophic of a risk. May we never forget.

[@thomas_dries]

I think I've said this before but between Lost, Chernobyl, and The Sopranos you guys have an insanely bingable reaction channel and I LOVE IT!

[@My-Name-Isnt-Important]

I'm sure you've both already seen episode 4, but I hope you had plenty of water to sip during certain scenes. The 4th Episode is one of the hardest for most people to watch. Especially people with pets.

[@servantofmelian9966]

Episode 5 is less horrible, but will make you angrier.

[@PUARockstar]

and for me it was the most personal because my father is a liquidator.

[@StarShipGray]

You can read Lyudmila Ignatanko’s actual story in the book “Voices From Chernobyl”. She’s still alive and living in Ukraine. It was the first time I cried reading a book.

[@PUARockstar]

Yeah. Her story arc in the show from that book actually. Its IgnatEnko though.

[@daveofyorkshire301]

Britain had ours in 1957 we renamed the town and moved on, you had Three-mile Island, Ukraine Chernobyl, Japan Fukashima... Nuclear power works by stacking coincidence on ability on events and assuming those involved are infalable. Most nuclear power plants are high pressure water systems, like the American design, the British are less efficient with gas primary and water secondary systems... But the big problem is no matter how rare accidents are when they are potentially huge even one is too many!

[@walnutsandbeastiality866]

I'm from Hungary (former Soviet Bloc country) and we still have these old hand-cranking (and these tiny ones that you have to squeeze constantly) flashlights at home 😄

[@Putrefax]

Kyle Hill has a fantastic series of videos called Half Life Histories where he goes over the history of various nuclear accidents, and actually visits not just the Chernobyl town that anyone can go see with dark tourist stuff, but gets authorisation to go inside the containment building and see the power plant engineers that are working to contain the plant today. It's pretty interesting to demystify our expectations of what it's like inside.

[@michaelhawk-fitz7563]

if you work in a "plant" as opposed to a factory or shop, the basement/underground levels should definitely be referred to as "the roots"..

[@theDoktorZbroadcast]

I visited Chernobyl last October, its well worth the experience to go and see it for yourself.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

Energy producing nuclear reactors have been around for 70 years. The Vladimir Lenin nuclear power plant at Chernobyl was completed in 1977. Not everyone in the night crew were young. But as with many institutions, the new people get bad jobs like being the night shift. You will find out more about why this happened in episode 4, And especially episode 5. Soviet nuclear reactors were built very differently than everyone else's reactors. They put efficiency cost above safety. Outside of the Soviet block, everybody used concrete domes to contain and protect nuclear reactors. In general, the Soviets were not careful with nuclear energy reactors, nuclear breeding reactors, and nuclear waste. I believe that three of the top five nuclear accidents occurred in the Soviet Union. It took an earthquake and tsunami for Japan's Fukishima Daiichi to reach number two.

[@ashleyowen7664]

22:30 you can work round the plant itself, they do let you into the conteol room itself, but you spend more time putting the protective gear on, than you do in the room

[@chernobyl68]

it would have been a steam explosion. the fuel was superheated from its uncontrolled fission and insanely radioactive. if it made it to the water it would instantly vaporize to steam and explode - think of a pressure cooker. the force of the explosion would have destroyed the power plant and the other reactors spreading and creating more graphite fires and spreading radioactive fuel and contaminated reactor components over a large area.

[@kevinwilson140]

In reality that wouldn't have happened, the stream generated would just escape through the same hole that the lava came in.

[@MrDeadstu]

@@kevinwilson140 actually when water vaporizes into steam, it increases in volume by a factor of (x1600), the steam is not "escaping", it's exploding.

[@kevinwilson140]

@@MrDeadstu have you ever seen lava fall into water does it flash boil the entire volume of water or does it just kinda boil. Water is extremely resistant to thermal change. That's why people can film pillow lava forming underwater from just a few feet away because the heat doesn't transfer through the water. These aren't sealed pressure cookers they are water tanks that would have to be punctured for the lava to get in.

[@kevinwilson140]

@@samth8444 stop trying to make the impossible seem less crazy. There is no way to flash steam water unless it is super heated in a sealed vessel that is designed to hold pressure. Otherwise you have a fizzle rather than an explosion. It's justblike wasting time building the heat exchange even though the fuel couldn't have gotten through the concrete pad. They were worried about stuff that couldn't happen.

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

@@MrDeadstu If the water can't escape, then why are vulcanic geysirs a thing? Shouldn't they explode every time instead of spitting out water and steam?

[@sawyer33]

One week from today, I predict that I will be watching Mrs. Movies drinking a LOT of water.

[@voodoochile333]

Don't buy any dog food

[@ted2080]

It was a weird year in Sweden, being told you cannot eat any wild berries or fish or game meat because of something apocalyptic that happened far away in the big ever present Soviet Union and almost at the same time (as I remember it) the news everywhere reporting that our prime minister had been murdered and I saw my grandmother cry for the first time. The world turned scary real quick for this then chubby little 10yo boy (still a chubby boy though). Great reactions!

[@Card1974]

Milk was available during our school lunch; nobody would touch it for weeks when the news broke in Finland.

[@ted2080]

@@Card1974 Hyvää! I remember something about the milk not being served too. Scary stuff.

[@HyperMoon]

"you me and the weenies" :)

[@bhurzumii4315]

The KZbin channel "Bald and bankrupt" has a few vlogs in and around the exclusion zone. Basically, Bald (the YT'r) goes hiking around the place and speaking with the people who live there. It's very interesting stuff.

[@Pinkielover]

A great KZbin channel , I've been watching him since day one... I think my favorite one is them smuggling a stray kitten on a plane flight..

[@sirmang9032]

Bald and the Babushkas! His channel is great for seeing things in the old Soviet Union you'd likely never see yourself.

[@ded-pihto]

Those weren't lead coffins, they were metal with zink cover. Concrete was the protection from radiation.

[@jpa5038]

Lead shields against radiation. I always thought the concrete was to prevent any disturbance that could potential open the coffins.

[@ded-pihto]

​@@jpa5038 bodies were wrapped in the polyethylene film, then put in the wooden coffin, then polyethylene film again, then metal coffins, then metal coffins were soldered and then it all was covered with concrete.

[@Justin.Franks]

@@jpa5038 Everything shields against radiation, it's just a matter of how thick it needs to be. The concrete was both for shielding and permanence / preventing disturbance.

[@kevjohn2006]

Dude, I love your channel (You, Me, and the "insert medium here") but I don't know if I can go through Chernobyl again. EDIT: I mean "Chernobyl" the mini-series, not Chernobyl the actual event.

[@aldo4908]

14:49 In an interview with one of the miners who survived, he let clear that this never happened, they finish the job in 4 weeks but NO MINER TOOK HIS CLOTHES OFF. What a wonderful show in deed. Excellent reaction you guys!

[@PV1230]

I'm pretty sure its a little levity to try to lighten the mood for a moment in the show

[@TheAlanFish]

The one area I have major concerns with accuracy in this excellent program is where it concerns the depiction of the Ignatenkos. Vasily wasn't actually radioactive himself, at least not to a level that would be dangerous to others. The only way a human body can become radioactive is by ingesting large amounts of radioactive heavy metals, which are the only emitters of long lasting radioactivity. In other words, Vasily would have had to swallow or breath in improbably large amounts of radioactive dust for him to actually be dangerously radioactive to others himself. The reason for the no touching protocol is that Vasily's immune system would be severely compromised by the radiation dose he received. It was to protect him, not to protect Lyudmilla. Whatever radioactive dosage Lyudmilla received likely came from her exposure in Pripyat prior to evacuation, which would not have been insignificant. The firefighter's clothing, which is still radioactive to this day, was heavily covered in the dust of the burning reactor which was full of radioactive materials and the main cause of danger at Chernobyl. That smoke contained billions of radioactive atoms, which were then spread over a wide area in various concentrations, creating a long lasting threat over a wide area.

[@garydarnell3117]

Hands down the leader of the minors is the best character on the show, he needs his own spin off where he goes around telling people to shut the fuck up and piss off. The actor who plays him was on a very popular soap in England so seeing his pee wee is a bit weird for me.

[@larmoth401]

When she was told not to touch him, it wasn't because he was radioactive. It was because his immune system would have been destroyed by the radiation and he would be at high risk of getting an infection or disease.

[@MRrealmadridRaul]

Yeah, the majority of the radiation would have been scrubbed off with soapy water. Only some radiation would be trapped in the body which why you take iodine pills to prevent radiation from being absorbed by the body. Depending on the type of emission from the decay, it wouldn't effect other people near by since the radiation would interact with your own body before it reached someone else unless it was something like gamma rays. (Sorry kinda hijacking your comment here) The hugging didn't cause him to scream. The DNA gets damaged preventing the cells from reproducing. Thats why he got better and then suddenly got worse.

[@marcuswilliams7888]

At that point though what's the point of protecting them from a disease? They are gonna die anyway. If it were me, just put a bullet in my head.

[@deathwitheponine]

This is not correct. I can’t explain how without spoiling further events but just know that yes…he was (and still is) radioactive.

[@Bodneyblue]

Yes I would stay by my partners side.....I lost my partner to cancer in 2017 and I would have given anything to of taken her place.....I was to late to get to the hospital and missed out on holding her hand to let her know she was not alone...To tell her one last time I loved her...And it hurts.

[@YouMeTheMovies]

Sorry for your loss. Digital hugs sent your way.

[@julius-stark]

I knew exactly what the thumbnail was in reference to.

[@lucillebluth2616]

The real Lyudmila Ignatenko said that she was hurt by the show doing a storyline on her and her husband as they didn't ask for her permission before they did it, sending prayers to her and her family 🙏🥰

[@dragonrider4339]

The button A Zed 5 i do believe is the emergency shut down button.. it drops the rods down back into the reactor to help cool it down to stop an explosion… however something went wrong and i dont want to give spoilers but thats explanation of the a zed 5 button..

[@UncleCharlie111x2]

This series is outstanding and well acted i've seen it. You two are a very likeable couple! Great job!

[@DerOberfeldwebel]

Going by the look of it and following some reads, I always thought those were zinc coffins like they used for the dead from Afghanistan.

[@Fozdrummer]

the button is effectively the emergency stop for the reactor. should have shut it dow instantly. you will find out later why it didnt

[@Kalashboy420]

the soviet apple cutting joke was a dig at how soviet equipment was dodgy and didnt work as good as it should have.

[@rikardottosson1272]

I mean the fireman had been washed and cleaned- realistically he wasn’t radioactive in the sense of being a risk to his wife although radioactive dust in his lungs could still be irradiating him from the inside. The fear of “catching” radioactivity from definitely decontaminated people was a real problem though, as people were afraid to house displaced families from Chornobyl because they were afraid of the radiation.

[@maotseovich1347]

Mining dust sucks. The dust on the ground outside that powerplant after that explosion was a whole different matter. Get that stuff sucked into the tunnel by a fan and breathed into your lungs and only the firefighters will be worse off than you.

[@tsogobauggi8721]

4:22 '...but I still wouldn't hug you.' ;) 13:48-14:23 That is a tough scene to watch. 15:43 Me thinking that she will say something about their families not taken care of... :D / Also, I believe you. :) 20:24 The end with the music is so beautifully sad.

[@robovike]

The "Weekend at Bernie's" reference here was a bit too spot-on.

[@BarbaOlof]

Brilliant show. Here in Sweden, quite far from Chernobyl, we still have high enough Cesium levels in (some) wild boar to make them dangerous to eat.

[@soultraveller5027]

That's right well done the Gieger counters were for cinema effect jolly good old chap

[@chilly22]

the blonde girl truly stole the show in this episode. devastatingly good acting

[@tsogobauggi8721]

Yes, in the whole episode but especially at the end.

[@PUARockstar]

And she even kinda looks like real Lyudmila at that age.

[@michaelhawk-fitz7563]

I feel like the nurse probably should have said WHY not to touch him, WHY she only gets 30 minutes, WHY it might be relevant that she may be pregnant..she almost made it seem like the bribe only bought her 30 minutes, no touchy touchy..

[@npenta551]

Welcome on back to you me and the weenies

[@eighthdoctor]

😂

[@trucker60ohio65]

Those zombies are gonna have a tough time getting out of those coffins. 😉

[@tsogobauggi8721]

Yeah, but when they do get out... they are radioactive super zombies. :)

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Would I ignore the no touching rule, and stay behind a plasic cover? Depends on my own age. Right now in my mid 40's, I would keep my distance. But in 15 years or so, I would probably give two figs about risking an early death.

[@michaelhawk-fitz7563]

at 10:04..Weekend at Bernie's part 1/2..aka Friday with Bernie..the prequel..

[@edpyasecky2225]

Nudity of the miners was just form of silent protest , it happened only once - to show their displeasure of higher-ups : coal miners in the USSR were in a privileged position because of their exclusive knowledge and experience , not to mention they were valued because the economy was in heavy stagnation since the 70s, and mining was some of the only things keeping their industry alive. Divers were equipped with geyger counters to know where to run

[@heavyrain4485]

Miners are bad ass and brass balls too

[@candicelynnH]

They were running a test with the night shift so local towns didn't go without power during the day. I think (from what I remember) they were trying to see if they could transfer power from one reactor to another.

[@SamnissArandeen]

No, it was about using power from the inertia of the turbine still spinning the generator to keep pumps running until diesel backup generators can come on.

[@user-vc5rp7nf8f]

"no i'd go out that way..... just kidding i love you" lol that's sweet

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

At 4:16 Joking about a surprising truth hits hard ! 🥵 🤭 Basically, it's not about the fact that our loved one would be there per se but rather knowing that she/he would be willing to be there.

[@sld1776]

Good news, somewhat: after getting rid of the clothes and getting a shower, Vassily was not radioactive. Lyudmila could hug him and kiss him to her heart's content without increased risk to her.

[@npenta551]

no no no, very wrong

[@juliet_burke]

nope

[@sld1776]

I'm absolutely right about this, and willing to discuss it. Ask away.

[@juliet_burke]

@@sld1776 these characters are based on real people. And I know for sure what their story was. So no, I need no discussion with you.

[@Primo_Luca]

@@sld1776 Vasily received a very high dose of radiation, much like the other firefighters, and by having contact with Lyudmila, some of it got to her. She didn't died because of her baby, which ended up absorbing the radiation and dying shortly after birth. The illusion that he was somewhat okay after the removal of the clothes and the initial treatment is in fact part of the radiation poisoning, when you think the victim is getting better, the worse part comes. I can't really see how he stayed somewhat clean after what he went through with the other firefighters, what's your theory?

[@Ian-lx1iz]

What about me? (23:07) I'd stay by my loved one's side, OUTSIDE the plastic ...but (like the miners) with my pee-pee out ..,.and wearing a lil hat.

[@ripLunarBirdCLH]

Fun fact. Back then Chernobyl nuclear power plant was so insanely radioactive that there was literally NO WAY to shield you from that. No radioactive suit would protect you for longer than a few minutes at most.

[@delnajamusic]

22:10 You can actually visit Pripyat and around de nuclear power plant for 2 days...they have travel agencies in Kiev...

[@Zayran626]

Best thumbnail so far :D

[@crouchingotter]

By the end of this series you will feel like an expert in how nuclear reactors work and what went wrong.

[@denisbriggs2992]

They really did take the meters down with them.

[@jonasfermefors]

I'm not particularly heroic but I do think I would have volunteered both for the three man valve closing and the tunnel dig. If you are asked to do something you are qualified for and you can save millions of your countrymen including women and children I don't see how to say no. Once I was done I'd be terrified of the consequences but when you have to do something you just do it and deal with what comes afterwards.

[@techman2553]

I'd only do it under one condition - when the work is done, kill me.

[@LadyBeyondTheWall]

@@techman2553 Honestly, I don't understand why they'd let these people die such horrific deaths over days/weeks. If you KNOW they are 100% going to die, and that it's going to be agonizing, ask them if they want a quicker way out for god's sake! If their veins are already too messed up for a very high morphine dose, then find someone willing to put them out of their misery with a gun. Seriously. I would NOT want to die like that knowing there's a quicker way, if I'm 100% going to die anyway. We put animals "to sleep" when we know they are suffering, but not humans? It's weird.

[@vkdeen7570]

dw Mr and mrs movies by the end of the series u'll understand how an rbmk reactor works and blows up 👍

[@pereivindweckhorst1659]

Ananenko, Baranov and Bespalov, the three divers, are the only reason that people can live in Europe today. Think of that. They alone are the only reason that you, me and everyone else can breath the air of Europe today. The only reason we can eat the food of Europe today. The only reason human life can exsist in Europe today. These three men are the greatest heroes of all mankind that ever lived. And the world doesn't care about it.

[@oldinion]

4:30 one of you has to survive after all.

[@gallendugall8913]

Of course you can visit Chernobyl since it is impossible for an RBMK reactor to explode, none of this ever happened, and it's perfectly safe.

[@Justin_80]

I like that they portray the heroes as well as the dirty cowards.

[@paulchaisson8301]

7:57 KGB follows everyone! It's like a Russian Reversal, 'in Soviet Russia, TV watches YOU!'

[@langdalepaul]

The button Akimov pressed is called AZ5 by the Russian nuclear industry. In the west it’s known as the reactor scram, or emergency shutdown. It’s supposed to be the last line of defence to shut down the reaction as soon as it is pressed. Regarding whether or not you would not let your partner die alone, radiation sickness isn’t infectious. The patient would have been cleaned of any surface contaminants and would not be radioactive or any real danger to a visitor. The reason for keeping people outside the “tent” is to protect the patient, not the visitor, as their sickness would have compromised their immune system. If Lyudmila was exposed to ionising radiation that affected her unborn child, it was at the time of the accident, or thereafter in the vicinity, not when she was visiting her husband in a Moscow hospital.

[@PUARockstar]

Soviet*

[@langdalepaul]

@@PUARockstar I stand corrected. 😉

[@Michael-ft5bm]

I was not disappointed by your reaction this episode. This episode was probably the most extreme in the sense that it goes between humor (bunch of dudes working naked to the shock of everyone at the site, and the demeanor of the mine foreman) to absolute dread (seeing how the firefighters wilt away, hearing the engineers recanting their experience leading up to the reaction, and finally the burials). It was definitely the crescendo of the series for me, but episodes 4 and 5 didn’t taper off like other crescendos do. It was still horrible all the way until the end.

[@tonyharmon8512]

The people exposed were relatively safe to be near after they had had the clothes removed and they had been washed down. They would have inhaled radioactive ash and dust and that would have continued to poison the firemen but by inverse square law it would have been relatively benign to others handling them. The hazard was exaggerated for dramatic effect as was the danger to her pregnancy from this source.

[@sirmang9032]

The real danger was to the people themselves who were exposed. Radiation destroys your immune system. So the reason for not wanting anyone to be close or contact with a radiation victim is to not kill them even faster. Although in Vasily's case, maybe that would have been better.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

Why her husband was screaming was because his body started to break down. Imagine Radiation burns like a Sunburn but cranked to 100/10. Instead of just your skin, the particles penetrate your entire body, deal damage to countless cells. Worse, the particles are able to penetrate deep into your body, deep into your cells, destroying even the DNA required for them to self replicate. Like when your skin dies from sun burns, now your entire body starts to break down and die, and you've also lost your ability to regenerate/heal so no new cells. Even cells that were not damaged, naturally die/get replaced, and they're also unable to, your body literally decomposes while you're still alive.

[@Blaskor314]

2 of the 3 divers that went to turn on the valves are still alive(as of 2019). The third died in 2005 of a heart attack(65 years old)

[@frozenharold]

Why do you feel the need to post spoilers in here?

[@Blaskor314]

@@frozenharold not a spoiler. Has no affect on the show at all, you see they got out in the first scene, it's only mentioned as a footnote at the end.

[@frozenharold]

@@Blaskor314 It is a spoiler. That is why it is mentioned at the end. Because most assumed they died. Obviously you thought it was a surprise or you wouldn't have brought it up here.

[@Blaskor314]

@@frozenharold It has zero to do with the story. So if i said "The whole world didn't die" would be a spoiler? This whole series is based on historical fact. Those three men should be mentioned as much as possible They are heroes...no SUPER heroes. They only mentioned it at the end because they didn't pause the story for any added text.

[@frozenharold]

@@Blaskor314It absolutely has to do with the story. And if you watched any other reactions, you would see how surprised everyone was that they lived so long. Yes it's based on historical fact. Also, 95%of the people watching this don't know most of the story. You can't let them experience it on their own? You feel they should be mentioned as much as possible, yet you never mention their actual names when you speak of them.

[@paulchaisson8301]

If anyone is interested in more in-depth science than the series covers in later episodes, The Atomic Age is a channel run by an actual nuclear saftey engineer who explains a bunch of stuff that is only covered in passing elsewhere.

[@guscarlson7021]

I know this much, I would not, nor would I allow someone I love, to die slowly in great pain. That's what courage is for.

[@voodoochile333]

?

[@colinm3130]

The notion that someone can be radioactive and make someone else radioactive is the same as saying someone with sunburn can give another person sunburn. It simply isn't possible. At best someone could have radioactive material on them which is why people get scrubbed down with soap and water.

[@brandoncollins1225]

I'm not one of THOSE people, but 11:57 seems especially prophetic.

[@ciaranconlon84]

I'd love to see what would happen if the kgb agents tried to intimidate the coal miners!

[@AllTheHurt]

that thumbnail tho